The Thai had some big, big shoes to fill. Our go-to Thai had been the Hand and Flower Pub, where the cocktails were delish and we discovered Yum Neau, which has forever changed the face of salads at Casa Findingmoxie. But, the crunch killed it. Dead.
So, it took some time before I was able to look at another neighbourhood Thai joint without grieving and residual bitterness. One unusually hungover Saturday, we wandered up for lunch and got taken in by the two course lunch for under £9.
We shouldn't have liked it. We were grossly hungover and were still hung up on the Hand and Flower. But from the moment we walked in, we loved the the cool purple and fuschia of the walls, the edgy and chilled music, and the beautiful menu (with photos that actually looked delicious).
We had a basic basil and chili chicken stirfry, Tom Yum soup, and Pad See Ew. The stirfry was very flavourful but light. The soup was mildly spicy and warming with just the right amount of coconut milk (too much is disaster!) The Pad See Ew was very tasty-- though just bordering on the slightly salty. Strangely, it was made with spaghetti like egg noodles and not the fat flat noodles I'm used to. But I figure next time, I could just ask for it how I like it. Order the ice cream--it's very generous and in a proper ice cream parlor glass. [UPDATE: the staff were very happy to substitute flat noodles on our second order! Yum!]
Prices are mostly under a tenner and they do takeaway. Service was very friendly and present. There appeared to be a decent cocktail menu, but for reasons alluded to above, we could not sample its wares. Next time!
Long story long, we're happy to make this our local Thai.
Goodbye, sweet Hand and Flower. read more